What would it take for ODWC to maintain at least a little representation for Inland Striped Bass stocking? We have ONE lake in the southeastern portion of Oklahoma which WOULD produce fish fifty pounds or over - it has all the qualities to prevent summer squeeze -6PPM in July and August at over 140' and it would compete with Beaver Lake Arkansas in size of fish, beauty of the lake, while adding needed dollars to a poor area of Oklahoma.

I know this lake is a darling of the Largemouth establishment, but so much of it is under -utilized, its full of shad and sunfish - how hard would it be to stock a very limited number of Striped Bass to produce a trophy fishery?

ONCE OKLAHOMA led the nation in inland striped bass research and experimentation - we haven't had ANY Striped Bass stocked since 2009 in Sooner. I hope you cn have a better hatchery year this year to at least give us a limited number there.

Beaver Lake Arkansas up the street revenues from Striped Bass tourism amounts to more than 2000.00 dollars in combined revenue PER TRIP for anglers coming FROM Oklahoma and Missouri, (motels, camping, gas, hard goods) with estimated annual economic benefit just for striper fishing at well over 9 million dollars annually.

The more opportunities ODWC can create the better you guys job security will be. You build something unique and your revenues as a department won't continue to fall.

Those who would give up constitutional freedoms to elected officials in exchange for a false sense of security, deserve neither freedom or security.

So I'm supposed to run this idea up the chain and see if this dog will hunt? After reading your other posts poking me and the other ODWC biologist staff because we are CERTAINLY not of the caliber of Mr. Mauck?

Find someone else to pin your hopes and dreams on...and try not to be so antagonistic when you ask for help with the next guy. Maybe that next guy will fall for your charming way of demanding the moon and stars.

Wow - attacking you? Thats a laugh - if I did I would do it directly - I asked what it would take and its a shame ODWC does not see the opportunity to reclaim its title -

You were not around Kuk when the guys before you made a muti-million dollar fishery in the state - I wouldn't expect you to walk it up the chain because I know for fact the chain has no intention of supporting Striped Bass except for getting enough to run the hybrid program --

I am a small minority, people who fish for Striper spend thousands in OTHER states which could be utilized to provide funds in this state -

The lobby with the most support in this state gets the lion share of the monies spent in fisheries - and only one LAKE which is a CASH cow for ODWC revenues stocked with this popular sport fish - and that watershed in danger due to Golden Algae and fish kills up drought riddled tributaries -

Paul wasn't popular with ODWC brass because he cared about the fisherman - NOT the flag -- too bad he wasn't YOUR BOSS.
Those who would give up constitutional freedoms to elected officials in exchange for a false sense of security, deserve neither freedom or security.

You ask a question of me (what would it take?) knowing full-well that administration does not support striped bass beyond providing hybrids (paraphrasing your words), and you expect me to spend my time crafting some sort of reasonable answer? Please. All you are doing is prodding, and poking, and taking wild swings at the hornet nest just to see what the reaction is. But go ahead and keep convincing yourself that you are so very direct in your approach.

Maybe when I prove to be half the biologist Paul Mauck was (he was an incredible advocate of OK anglers by the way) I can find time to change hybrid stocking protocol to allow reservoirs like Kaw to be stocked...or maybe I could someday work to understand the Arkansas River striper fishery enough to get the regs changed...or maybe I could look into striper spawning in the Texoma tributaries to better understand where, when and how much flow is needed to produce successful year classes...or maybe work with our hatcheries to improve hybrid fry bagging protocol. Yep, you are right Tony...when it comes to Morones this biologist is CERTAINLY not up to your standards.

Feel free to carry your own flag into battle as I have no desire to be in any way associated with your "direct" approach.

WOW Kurt, I for one will bring up your statement to the OSBA club membership this month just before we vote on how much to donate this year.
My guess is, If we did have a real good Stripe bass population in Oklahoma that, the OWDC would put restriction on them to keep out of staters from coming here on weekends to harvest the fish the way they did on the Spoonbill. We do not need out of state dollars in Oklahoma.
I don't believe in Miracles, I rely on them.
Dave Clark
Hybrid/Striper/Sandbass
GuideFishonok.com
YETI Pro staff,
Pro Staff Baitbuster Cast nets 1.5lbs per foot and six panel

Dave, why would you take anything from a debate i am having with Tony and use it to threaten me by suggesting OSBA not fund ODWC projects via donation? I have worked my tail off to do solid research with any donation from the club in the past and would do so again. I have always said that the striper club is a great asset to morone fisheries in our state. The donations are VERY much appreciated and put to good use which in turn helps you morone anglers.

The he only thing I have an issue with is the back-handed way Tony is making me look like I do not care about morone fisheries when I have been THE BIGGEST supporter of such fisheries through all of my research efforts the past 10 or so years. So feel free to make any comment you feel necessary at the club meeting. Or feel free to contact me to discuss any issues you might have: 405-325-7288

You read waaay too omuch into what I post Kuk - I am not knocking YOUR work personally - however since you read that into my QUESTION above I responded in kind -

The posts I made on the main page I stand firmly behind - there is NO Striped Bass program in Oklahoma hasn't been in years - not your call I know. I did not intend to impugn you PERSONALLY, it would seem you took exception to what I think about Mr Mauck, I would LOVE someday to place you there beside him in respect EARNED.

This was a good article by Ed Godfrey of the Oklahoman which recognizes Pauls body of work and the VALUE to the State of Oklahoma for this excellent STRIPED BASS fishery.

I do not think in my original question to YOU as a representative of ODWC on this page you need DEFEND the Agency - nor yourself - it was merely to see if there was ANY way to get a second fishery - carry on

Biologist Mauck to end 38-year career

By Ed GodfreyOutdoors Editor

The fisheries biologist responsible for managing what is arguably Oklahoma's most important lake is retiring this month after 38 years with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.Paul Mauck, 62, of Calera spent most of those 38 years as the south-central fisheries chief, a region which includes Lake Texoma.Folks on Grand Lake or Lake Eufaula might disagree that Texoma is more important, but there is no other lake in the United States that has striped bass fishing quite like Texoma."From a catch rate, Texoma is the top striped bass lake in the country,â€ said Jeff Boxrucker, assistant fisheries chief for the state Wildlife Department. "There are lakes with bigger stripers, but as far as a family-friendly fishery, it's unmatched.â€Mauck is one of two men â€” along with former fisheries biologist Jack Harper â€” who were instrumental in developing the striped bass fishery at Lake Texoma, an economic engine that drives five southern Oklahoma counties."It's big-time important,â€ Greg Duffy, director of the state Wildlife Department said of Lake Texoma. "We got to see that this summer when you couldn't get on the lake.â€Over the years, the state Wildlife Department has introduced non-native species to the states. Pheasants have taken hold in northwest Oklahoma. Walleye are thriving in places like Canton and Kerr. But striped bass are Oklahoma's biggest success story.Stripers are a saltwater fish who spend most of the adult lives in the ocean, but spawn in fresh water. On the Atlantic coast, they range from the St. Lawrence River in Canada to Florida's St. John's River, although they are most prevalent from Maine to North Carolina. When water temperature begins to rise in the spring, the fish will leave the ocean and start their spawning runs in freshwater rivers and streams.Stripers were being introduced in Oklahoma waters in the late â€˜60s and early 70s. Among Mauck's first duties with the state Wildlife Department was to travelto South Carolina's Santee Cooper Reservoir and New York's Hudson River and bring striper fry (very young stripers) back to Oklahoma.In the beginning, stripers were not put into Oklahoma lakes with the intent to be another sport fish for anglers, but to be a management tool.Fishery biologists wanted the striped bass as a predator to thin out big gizzard shad and improve the forage base for species that anglers liked to pursue, such as bass and crappie.But the stripers took off in Texoma and began naturally reproducing in 1974, only one of a few inland reservoirs in the country where that occurs.Stripers thrived in Texoma because of the lake's higher salt content and its massive open water. And most importantly, because of the uninhibited river systems on both sides of the lake, a necessity for the long spawning runs of stripers.State wildlife officials have documented striper spawning sites on the Red River as far as 75 miles from the lake."We've never had a year since 1974 that we haven't had reproductive success,â€ Mauck said. "It just got better and better all through the â€˜70s. It ballooned into the tremendous fishery that it is today.â€At least 200 striper guides operate on Lake Texoma. In 1990, an Oklahoma State University study determined that striper fishing on Lake Texoma was a $25 million a year industry.No telling what it is worth 17 years later.However, many anglers initially feared that stripers in Texoma would wipe out other sport fish, Mauck said."They are still fighting those issues between bass fishermen and striper fishermen on other lakes,â€ he said. "We had that issue at first, but after awhile people found out it wasn't a big issue."Our bass fishery got better and better, even with all the striped bass. The bass fishery at Texoma is the best its been in 30 years right now.â€The person who replaces Mauck will face challenges such as municipalites clamoring for Texoma water and farmers lobbying to remove salt from the Red River so the water can be used for irrigation or drinking."If you desalinate the Red River to the point where everybody who's got a straw can take water out of it, it can seriously impact Texoma in the future,â€ Mauck said.For more than three decades, Mauck has been responsible for managing the Texoma fishery.During that time, Texoma has produced state fishing records including 106-pound flathead catfish; and 118 Â½ pound blue catfish; a 14-pound, 10-ounce largemouth bass; an 8-pound smallmouth bass; a 184-pound alligator gar and an 8-pound hybrid black bass."Texoma is so unique,â€ Mauck said. "It's not just a single species fishery. It's a world class blue catfish lake. There are better bass lakes, but it is a good bass lake, too."Oklahoma has a Grand Lake, but Texoma truly is a grand lake.â€And, according to his colleagues, much of the credit goes to Mauck.
Those who would give up constitutional freedoms to elected officials in exchange for a false sense of security, deserve neither freedom or security.

So if you have been working so hard the last ten years for the Stripers how has it improved over the last ten years? I know the Hybrid population is still very good but i don't think that is what you are talking about. You are talking about how hard you have worked on the striper program. Maybe I am missing something. Is it better now than ten years ago? I am not threating you. It just sounds like to me you think you have done all you can and your not going to try any more. And since nothing has changed your not going to do any more. So if there is nothing else to be done why do we keep donating? Most of it I know is for the Hybrids. But I thought we did donate for the Striper tagging also. If thats not helping or there is not any good data, lets not waste our money on a program which is dead. Which sounds like to me you think it is and there is nothing else that can be done to improve it.
I don't believe in Miracles, I rely on them.
Dave Clark
Hybrid/Striper/Sandbass
GuideFishonok.com
YETI Pro staff,
Pro Staff Baitbuster Cast nets 1.5lbs per foot and six panel

Dave, that is not at all what I am trying to say. I think there is a lot of good ideas and work to be done on striper fisheries in OK. So I am sorry if I gave you any other impression. As far as the value of my research, I found it to be very valuable...enough that striper regs were changed based on those data. So I place a high value on that, but your value may differ depending on whether or not you agreed with the regulation change resulting from my study.

Let eat me be clear: The only thing I am in disagreement with is the methods employed by some posters to talk smack about me or my work on one post then expect me to be the champion of their cause within my agency (knowing it is likely going to be an uphill battle). Sorry if that did not come across perfectly clear. All I am saying is if you or anyone else wants to start a striper fishery in Broken Bow or anywhere else, talk to ODWC fish administration and regional biologists. Again I am happy to discuss this over the phone when I am in my office.

That study was /is valuable Kuk - as you said we had in reality already a five fish limit - but Kudos for getting it "officially" reduced to reasonable level - I still don't know where you get off that I was singling you out, certainly the Agency handling of what USED to be a viable program - if by extension that riled you it seems you thought the shoe fit -- it was not offhandedly(nor did I think about "offhanded" when I posted) directed to you personally -you didn't have much to do with Striped Bass demise, but you might be able to change the direction its taken - - UPHILL battle would be an understatement.

Refute that the program is dead - except for your sorely needed study, and limited stocking of Sooner lake - Striper STOCKING programs are DOA in this state.

Don't bring up frankenfish - I don't consider them germane to the discussion -

Let me list lakes where Striper would thrive in limited numbers - Hudson due to cold springs and the pumpback, (certainly in high flow lakes flow you would have to do yearly stockings) thru to Gibson, which HAD Striped Bass in the Seventies, flow thru to the Arkansas as back to Zink for your Hybrid production program.

Broken Bow which was stocked ONCE - a lot of those fish ended up below the dam where some monsters were caught years ago - who stocked them remains a mystery but it was back in the days of Bakers World Striped Bass Circuit -

I won't mention Tenkillers Ferry which also had a good population of Striped Bass which were wiped out by bottom drawing the lake one hot dry year - then Jimmy Houston and area lobbied that they would not be restocked due to the dead rotting fish.

Kaw was likely a poor choice due to extreme water quality issues - even though broodstock that Bill put in seemed to survive in spite of

I won't mention Grand Lake - even though it likely would be a good candidate - because of howls from FLW and BASS.

I see opportunity to add fisheries, license, tackle and boat buyers- you guys scratch your head wondering how you can keep revenues from dropping - I just don't see that happening with the tired old, shad filled lakes we have , without some new buzz and excitement.

Those who would give up constitutional freedoms to elected officials in exchange for a false sense of security, deserve neither freedom or security.

Stripers thrived in Texoma because of the lake's higher salt content and its massive open water. And most importantly, because of the uninhibited river systems on both sides of the lake, a necessity for the long spawning runs of stripers.--------------------------------

quote above from Daily OK article-------------

The above refers to the two unrestrained rivers feeding Texoma. What it doesn't mention is very minimal upstream fishing pressure for spawning striped bass at Texoma. This is unfortunately not the case for the Arkansas River system upstream and downstream from Keystone and connecting waters. There is heavy fishing pressure during the spawn below Kaw, Keystone, 31st street, Eufaula, Gibson, etc. The striper fishing skill learning curve has advanced to include everything from trolling motor bait delivery devises to umbrella rigs.

Somewhere there has got to be some conservation. I got hooked fishing 31st street in Tulsa, being in on a one day stringer of 26,21,20,19,16 and 13 lbers, with my buddies in 1978. If Oklahoma fishermen could just catch a few 10 to20lb striper in fast water, they'd likely be aching for more. The limit was two then.

ODWC is responsible for all this. You all introduced this awesome fish and the ensuing benefit we experienced. You guys stocked hybrid in a newly formed Sooner lake and gave a bank fisherman going to OSU, so I could eventually afford a boat. I had the chance to catch a fish, hitting a lure and also fighting like a big catfish. You all put those lab fish in Skiatook Reservoir too, giving me the chance to enjoy some of the finest freshwater fishing available, about year 6. Heck they would hit a crankbait sitting on top of the water and then tear the hooks off it. So thanks ODWC.

So what's the beef? There are no armies of saugeye fishermen yet they are stocked abundantly. Yea, understand it helps the crappie population dynamics. We noted the insightful move to protect 30 inch blue cat. The protection of the spoonies was financially wise for the dept. So how about sustaining striper fishing opportunities for bank fishermen, from the Sooner walk in, to the many dams we are blessed with. Yea it all your fault. You built it, we came. Well seriously KUK, thanks for studying this issue and thanks for your individual diligence for Oklahoma fisheries. I do not question your passion for the real bass opportunities in Oklahoma.

I can say for sure I don't like the fact only one in four lakes in North Central OK was stocked with hybrids last year, with stripers missing the boat altogether. Understand a one year hatchery crash, at least, I will try to. But the fish stocking criteria for which lakes get the fish is hard to comprehend. A half full Waurika gets a full load and one of four up here gets any at all? In a previous year Overholster got 300,00 hybrids and a yet good year brings 675,00 stocked total statewide?

Our founding forefathers didn't intend us to buy our way. Just asking for some parity. If I read the numbers right, Ponca City hasn't received any hybrids since 2011.